Housing assistance: what are the duties of a landlord when a tenant moves out?

Whether it’s a furnished or unfurnished rental property, under certain conditions the tenant can apply to receive housing support. Note that from September 1st, 2016, landlords must inform the welfare office (la CAF) of claimant’s departure or the termination of the contract within a month.

Meeting the criteria to receive the CAF housing assistance

The rented property, which can be furnished or unfurnished, must meet an adequate standard (lire l’article Furnished or empty, the rented housing must be decent).
It must be occupied for more than 8 months per year and serve as the tenant’s principal residence The latter cannot be a relative of or have connections to the landlord’s income, to those of his or her spouse or partner and the income of anyone living in the household must be low.

Landlords must declare their tenants: beware of the penalties!

Each year, the landlord must inform the welfare office (la CAF) of the total amount of rent for the month of July and provide any information or proof requested by the CAF regarding the tenants benefiting from housing aid.

From September 1st, 2016, in accordance with the loi ALUR (March 24th, 2014), landlords must also declare the claimant’s departure or the termination of the contract within a month of that tenant moving out or the ending of the contract, as opposed to six months formerly.

This period can be extended by one month if the landlord can prove that he or she was unable to declare the tenant’s departure within the statutory period. In this instance, the landlord must declare the departure as well as supporting documents for the revised housing aid.

A landlord who fails to comply with this requirement faces a penalty under article L 114-17 of the Social Security Code, which could be as much as double the maximum monthly social security payment, in other words € 6, 436 (January 1st, 2016).